


Stardust

by barrisscoffees



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11832576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barrisscoffees/pseuds/barrisscoffees
Summary: It all comes back to this: all that everyone is, all that anyone will be comes from stardust. Maybe that's why soul marks can exist.





	Stardust

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Star Wars Femslash Week Day Five!

Every sentient in the universe was supposed to have a soul mark. That was just how the universe worked. Soulmarks were revered: kept clean, treasured; the worst villain in the galaxy wouldn’t dare touch someone else's. Even they had respect. The Jedi, however, had little tolerance for attachment, and so, every child brought to the temple had theirs burned off.

Even at three, Ahsoka is painfully aware of how barbaric the practice was, so the whole system was kept under careful wraps. No one outside the temple could know. (Ahsoka doesn't like to think about what this says about the Jedi as a whole) The thing was, the Jedi were less familiar with non-humanoid species - like Togruta - so when they were unable to find Ahsoka’s soulmark, they declared whoever it was must be dead since hers had clearly faded. Ahsoka keeps quiet about the still forming blue blotches on the underside of her right lek.

The children in Ahsoka’s clan all have their scars - on wrists or legs or even necks. They all have no reverence for the Universe’s hand in their lives. As far as Ahsoka can tell, that counts as brainwashing. So she keeps her secret; she tells no one, and, at night, she would crawl silently to the ‘fresher mirrors and twist her lek to see the diamonds.

////

Barriss Offee arrived at the Jedi Temple as an infant, so, unlike many others, she has no memory of what the scar beneath her left collarbone may have been. It never occurred to her how cruel the practice is until she is fourteen. It seemed practical (no attachments) until she reads with longing, fingers shaking, about their meaning to others in the galaxy. Master Luminara finds her, near weeping, datapad on the ground, and fingers pulling at the fabric around her scar.

 _Why?_ She wants to know, _How could they do this to me?_ Ever forbearing, Master Luminara takes her aside and explains it is just the way things are. Can't she see? It is for her own good.

Though she nods, Barriss never fully believes her.

////

Something resonates in Ahsoka when she first sees the black tattoos sprinkled over the other padawan’s green nose - when her fingers graze the diamonds on her hands. _This could be it._ She knows

Underneath the rubble, waiting to die, Ashoka sees her opportunity to ask:

 _Your mark? Do you remember it?_ But Barriss does not. Still, Ahsoka feels she can trust her. She leans closer and Barriss does likewise until Ahsoka can feel the other girl’s breath on her skin. She takes Barriss’s hand in hers and brings it to her lek; she lets Barriss’s fingers caress the mark in wonderment, the sensitive skin shivering at the touch. Barriss thinks it is beautiful. Ahsoka had never felt beautiful before. Between Barriss’s tattoos and her own facial marks, Ahsoka finally feels the three tightly packed diamonds mean something.

////

Barriss thinks she loves Ahsoka with a blinding intensity. Of course, she has never loved anybody before so how could she know if this isn't normal. Barriss feels she had not really breathed, had not really seen until she met Ahsoka. Around her, it is like the tragedies of the universe slip away. Dust and grime are wiped away to reveal the shining possibility of what the galaxy could be.

Together they scour the Jedi Temple for a record of the marks they had destroyed. Even if Barriss’s marks would have been barely formed, they would have been a _hint_. It leads them to a droid and a purged data base. Barriss is distraught. Ahsoka says it doesn’t matter.

////

Ahsoka swears Barriss is pulling away from her. Every mission with Skyguy, Barriss gets further away. She is colder, sadder, until the day Ahsoka catches her with plans to bomb the Jedi Temple clutched in her hand. Barriss drops the hologram and hangs her head, as if expecting Ahsoka to pull out her lightsaber and take off her head right there.

Ahsoka decides instead to throw aside her lightsaber and shoto and pull the girl she loves into her arms. Barriss collapses, her tears soaking Ahsoka’s dress. _I can’t do it. I can’t do it anymore._

////

 _The Jedi have become corrupted_ They write in identical letters to their masters, _I can no longer defend an organization that favors its own preservation over the life of those they swore to protect. I can no longer fight for the Jedi; they are the ones responsible for this war._ We _have become the villains in the war, and, worse even, the council refuses to recognize their culpability. The Jedi are meant to protect - not fight. We should be helping those in need, not destroying their planets and way of lives only to leave them without support. We should abhor the production of clones - men born to fight and die. Instead of freeing them from what is indoctrination and slavery, we employ them. And when they are too old or too weak? We again abandon them. I do not wish to have any part in this organization. I do not wish to be - or support - a war criminal._

_Furthermore, I protest the removal of soul marks, despite the Jedi’s intention to protect the galaxy by preventing attachments, I view it as barbaric to take away what is most precious, most personal and claim it is for our own good. It is blasphemous to destroy the most obvious sign of the will of the Force in people’s lives._

_These all highlight how far the Jedi have fallen. The Republic is failing. It is only a matter of time._  

 _Skyguy,_ Ahsoka adds as an amendment to her letter, _I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to leave you alone. Say goodbye to Rex and Master Obi-Wan for me. Skyguy, I know you’ll be angry - that you’ll think I’ve abandoned the people who need me. I believe it is outside the Jedi Order that can I truly help people. You can come with us. Please. You can be free. You can be happy._

Barriss adds nothing - someday she would regret that - but she leaves her braid and Ahsoka leaves her beads and with the final words and signatures on their respective letters ( _I, being of sound mind and body, hereby resign from the Jedi Order…_ ) were gone.

////

Ahsoka and Barriss find themselves on a desert planet first - a planet the Republic had abandoned. In the silent night, they huddle in a hut they built for themselves. The night is cold and exposing and sand will occasionally tear through the holes in their hut, leaving minute scratches, but it does not matter. They lie _together_ , their hearts pressed together. Barriss is too quiet. _We’ll never know._ She confesses to Ahsoka, _We can never know. They took that away from us._

Ahsoka disagrees. _I know._

But Barriss does not hear her. _You can’t know. Not for sure._

But here, under the star, really seeing them for the first time, Ahsoka changes her mind. She had been destined to be a hero in the war. She had been destined to be a great Jedi Master, everybody knew it: second only to and second in command of the Chosen One. She has been destined to be the perfect Jedi. _Fuck destiny._ She whispers into Barriss’s headscarf. _I_ choose _you._

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! I'd really appreciate if you guys let me know what you thought about this one because it was my favorite from femslash week!
> 
> Sorry for any tense changes, I changed it from past to present halfway through and had to go back. I probably missed some verbs.
> 
> Any reference to Rogue One was completely unintentional.
> 
> Anyways, thanks to all who review or leave kudos, you're the best!  
> Much love to thedorkyastra, and thanks to Edith, my good friend, my buddy, my homie.  
> Constructive criticism is always welcome!


End file.
